The Making of Modern Burma

23 Pages·2003·0.2 MB·English

The Making of Modern Burma
ThantMyint-U
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Contents
Acknowledgements [vii]
Introduction:ThefallofMandalay [1]
1 Kingsanddistantwars [12]
2 TheIrrawaddyvalleyintheearlynineteenthcentury [24]
3 TheCourtofAva [53]
4 Empireandidentity [79]
5 ThegrandreformsofKingMindon [104]
6 RevoltandthecomingofBritishrule [130]
7 ReformistsandroyalistsatthecourtofKingThibaw [154]
8 Warandoccupation [186]
9 Acolonialsociety [219]
Conclusion:ThemakingofmodernBurma [245]
Bibliography [255]
Index [272]
1 Kings and distantwars
Astillnamelessridgeofmountains,risingtoheightsofover20,000feet,
extendseastfromtheHimalayasandseparatesTibetfromtheheadwaters
oftheIrrawaddyriver.Formorethantwomonthseachwinter,tempera-
turesfallwellbelowfreezingandfiercestormsenveloptheregioninsnow.
Betweenthemountains,narrowandthicklyforestedvalleysarecrowded
withrhododendrons,magnolias,maples,firsandtallFormosanpines,and
the mountains themselves, in their lower reaches, are covered in dwarf
junipersandanabundanceofsmallevergreensandperennials.
Here, in this home of tigers, Himalayan black bears and the Asian
rhinoceros,twosmallrivers,theMaliHkaandtheN’MaiHka,havetheir
origin.Fedbythemeltingsnows,theywindtheirwaysouthandeventually
merge to form the Irrawaddyjust below the twenty-sixth parallel. From
this confluence, the river rushes down, in occasionally violent torrents,
throughsteepgorges,someonlyfiftyyardsacross,beforereachingthehot
aridplainsbelow.
The country which it crosses through nearly all of its 700-mile-long
journeytotheseaisverydry,withcoolwintersandscorchingsummers,a
dustyexpanseofalluviallandwheretemperaturesclimbtoanaverageof
over100degreesFahrenheitinMarchandAprilandtheannualprecipita-
tioninplacesbarelyreachestwentyinches.Therains,whentheydocome,
come in a few sharp downpours, violent monsoon storms which trans-
form waterless stream beds into dark brown torrents in a matter of mi-
nutes.Muchoftheregioniscoveredinadryscrubforestofshortthorny
acacias,euphorbiaandcutch.Alongthewaterlinestherearetallertamar-
indandIndianelmtreesandnearlyallthecultivationisconfinedtothese
irrigatedzones.Anextinctvolcano,MountPopa,5,000feethigh,domi-
natesthemiddlepartofthisotherwisealmostentirelyflatplain.Theonly
otherexceptionisalonglineofhills,thePeguYoma,whichparallelthe
Irrawaddyalongitsmiddlecourse.
The river’s valley is almost entirely surrounded by a horseshoe of
increasingly high mountains. To the west are dense forests, mainly of
ebony, and then series of mountain ranges – the Arakan Yoma, the
LushaiandNagaHillsandothers–thetallestmountainsover12,000feet
Kingsanddistantwars 13
high. To the east are thick teak forests which suddenly give way to the
Shan uplands, a plateau averaging 3,000 feet, in some places rising in
singlestepsof2,000feetfromthebasinbelow.Oftentreacherouspasses
link the valley to its nearest lowland neighbours: Arakan, Manipur,
AssamandSiam.
Onlyto the south is the valley free from its mountain fastness. Here,
thebadlands,savannahandscrub-cladhillsgivewaytothebroadalluvial
plains of the delta, as the Irrawaddy spreads out like a fan, the river
dividing and sub-dividing and finally spilling into the Bay of Bengal
throughninesmallerriversandcountlessstreams.Thislowerregionisas
wetastheuppervalleyisdry,withsomepartsreceivingnearly200inches
ofrainayear.Muchisalsorelativelynew:thegradualsiltingoftheriver
haspushedthelandforwardthreemileseachcentury,withmanypartsof
thedelta stillbelowthe levelof thespringtides.Mangroveswampsand
greattidal forestsalong thecoast turn to marshesand grasslandfurther
inland,anddensetropicaljunglecoversthehigherelevationsjusttothe
eastandwest.1
Bodawpayaandwesterncampaigns
ThePrinceofBadonwas37yearsoldwhenheascendedthethroneofAva
in 1782.2 His reign, which lasted until his death in 1817, was to be the
longestinBurmesehistorysincethedaysofPagan,thelongestinoverfive
centuries. He is better remembered today as Bodawpaya or ‘the royal
grandfather king’, the name by which he was often referred to in court
writingsofthemid-nineteenthcentury.With53wivesand120children,
Bodawpaya, the fifth son of Alaungpaya, the dynasty’s upstart founder,
wasperhapsthegreatestofalltheKonbaungkings.Hepresidedoverthe
Burmeseempireatitsveryheight,marchinghisarmiessteadilywestward
totheverybordersofanequallyexpansionistBritishIndia.3
HisfirsttargetwasArakan,asmallkingdomalongtheBayofBengal
1 EugeneDobby,SoutheastAsia,London,1950,pp.147–67.
2 OnBodawpaya’sreign,seeTin(Mandalay),KonbaungzetMahaYazawindawgyi(Great
RoyalChronicleoftheKonbaungDynasty)(hereafterKBZ),vol.I,pp.525–67;vol.II,
pp.1–219.
3 Forafirst-handdescriptionofBodawpaya,seeHiramCox,JournalofaResidencein
theBurmanEmpireandMoreParticularlyattheCourtofAmarapoorah,London,
1821,p.90.
14 ThemakingofmodernBurma
whichwasseparatedbyaformidablemountainrange,theArakanYoma,
from the Irrawaddy valley. The Arakanese ruling class spoke Burmese,
andthereexisted many similaritiesin court cultureand socialorganisa-
tionbetweenthetwosocieties,butthearea’sprincipalroleasacentreof
IndianOceantradeand piracyalsomeantthat Arakanwas much more
exposedto IndianOceaninfluences,inparticularfromBengal, but also
from further afield. The religion was primarily Theravada Buddhist, but
withalargeMuslimminorityandstrongBrahmanicalinfluences.Inthe
lateeighteenthcentury,thekingdomwasinaperiodofdisarrayandmore
than one of its rival palace factions appealed to the Burmese for assist-
ance,providingAvawithawelcomeexcusetoinvade.
The Arakan campaign was led by the new crown prince, the king’s
eldest son, Thado Minsaw, the Prince of Shweidaung. The Burmese in-
vadedinfourcolumnstotalling30,000men,threecolumnscrossingthe
Arakan Yoma mountains and the fourth coming up along the Indian
Ocean coastline from the erstwhile English base at Negrais, and they
occupiedtheArakanesecapitalatMrohaungwithoutseriouslossinearly
1785. Arakan was then annexed outright as a ‘kingdom held by arms’
(lethnetnaingngan)anddividedintofourgovernorships,eachbackedby
agarrison.Revenuesfromtheoccupiedtownsweredividedbetweenthe
treasuryandselectedmembersoftheCourtofAva,withalltherevenues
from Mrohaung itself being granted to the king’s white elephant. The
ShweidaungPrincebroughtbackwithhimthegreatMahaMuniimage,
symbolofArakanesesovereignty,togetherwith20,000captivestopopu-
latehisfather’snewcapitalofAmarapura,the‘ImmortalCity’.
EarlierimperialdreamshadrestedontheconquestoftheChaoPhraya
valleyandhadledtothebloodysackingofAyuthaya,theSiamesecapital
in1767.ButnowthenewandvigorousregimeatBangkokendedanyreal
hopeofexpansiontotheeast,anditwasan entirelynew empire,tothe
west, which would now provide fertile ground for royal ambitions. In
1817, Bodawpaya died and was succeeded by his grandson (his son
havingdiedearlier)inthesmoothestofalltheKonbaungsuccessions.The
new king, Bagyidaw, though not nearly as capable as his grandfather,
provedanevenmoreambitiousimperialist.
Manipur,whichhadgivensomuchtroubletothelastToungookings,
hadbeenthefirstobjectofBurmeseaggressionunderthenewKonbaung
rulers.Bytheearlyeighteenthcentury,theirnascentstate,setina small
valley to the west of the Chindwin, had come under the influence of
Kingsanddistantwars 15
VaishnaviteHinduism and a process of ‘Sanskritisation’ encouraged by
immigrantBengaliBrahmans.Theirking,GaribNawaz,hadbeenthefirst
toconverttothenewfaithandpursuedapolicyofrepressionofindigen-
ousreligiousbeliefsaswellasofrivalHindusects.
ThefirstKonbaunginvasionofManipurin1758wreakedhavoconthe
smallkingdomandwasfollowedbyanevenlargerandmoredevastating
invasionin1764.4ThousandsofManipuriswereforciblydeportedtothe
Burmesecapitaland thecombinationof war, flightand deportationleft
Manipurvirtuallyemptyforyears.Manyofthesecaptiveswereboatmen,
smiths, weavers and artisans who became hereditary crown servants at
Ava, and for generations they, their descendants and later Manipuri
deporteesformedanunderclassinthevalley,actingasdomesticservants,
menial labourers and agricultural workers for the Burmese royal family
and nobility. They also formed the new Cassay Horse, an elite cavalry
regiment,afewgainingfameasthebestpolo-playersoftheirgeneration.
In1813theBurmese,havingmovedtheirforwardbasesuptheChin-
dwinintotheadjacentKabawvalley,decidedtoconsolidatetheirposition
inManipur,andPrinceMarjitSingh,amemberofthelocalrulinghouse,
wasinstalledonthethroneatImphal.MarjitSinghhadspentmuchofhis
youthatAvaandtheBurmesebelievedhewouldmakeaplianttributary.
But by 1819 he had proved much too ambitious for the Court of Ava’s
liking, asserting his autonomy and refusing to attend the coronation of
Bagyidaw,Bodawpaya’sgrandsonandsuccessor.Thisthenledtothefinal
conquest of the Manipur valley and a change in Burmese policy from a
simple demand for tribute to indirect administration through a puppet
prince.Apermanentgarrisonwasstationed,backedbyalongsupplyline
uptheChindwinriver.
FromtheirmostnorthernfortsalongtheHukawngriver,thevictorious
and confident Burmese army pushed yet further west, to Assam.5 The
kings of Assam, with their capital at Rangamati, ruled over the Brah-
maputravalley,fromthedescentofthegreatriverinsouth-easternTibet
toitsentryintotheplainsofBengal.Anarrowvalleyhemmedinbyhigh
mountains,AssamhadcomeundertheruleoftheoriginallyTai-speaking
Ahom royal house in the thirteenth century. This old and distinguished
familyhadledthemainlyTibeto-Burman-speakingpeoplesofthevalley
4 GangamumeiKabui,HistoryofManipur,Vol.I:Pre-ColonialPeriod,NewDelhi,1991,
pp.194–291.
5 S.L.Baruah,AComprehensiveHistoryofAssam,NewDelhi,1985,pp.220–369.
16 ThemakingofmodernBurma
inaseriesofdefensivewarsagainsttheMughalempireandhadgradually,
like the Manipuris, come under increasing Sanskrit and Hindu cultural
influences. By the 1790s, however, the power of the Ahom court had
begun seriously to decline, as intra-dynastic disputes combined with a
widespread uprising by followers of the neo-Vaishnavite Moamariya
movement.RivalgroupsturnedtobothAvaandCalcuttaforassistance,
leadingtoaninitialBritishexpeditioninthewinterof1792–3whichaided
inthequellingoftherebellion.
But by 1817, the situation in Assam had again reached a point of
considerableinstability,astheleaderofoneofthecourtfactionsappealed
toBodawpayato interveneagainsttheincumbentrulerorswargadeoof
Assam, Chandrakanta Singh. Bodawpaya had already been looking to
invade the Brahmaputra valley in support of the Moamariyas and in
supportofhisownimperialaims.Awell-equippedforceof8,000menwas
marched north, swelled along the way by thousands more Jingpaw and
ShanleviesfromtheHukawngvalleyandthen,inanamazinglogistical
feat,wasbroughtacrosstheHimalayanpassesalongthePatkairidge,and
intothevalleyatitseasternend.TheAssameseweredecisivelydefeatedat
thebattleofKathalguriandthepro-BurmesepremierBadanChandrawas
installed. Chandrakanta Singh was allowed to remain as the nominal
king.
SeveralyearsthenfollowedoflocalintrigueandBurmeseintervention,
Assamese princes constantly switching allegiances and Ava becoming
convincedoftheneedfortightercontrol.In1821,ahugearmyof20,000,
including10,000 Jingpawlevies, under the command of General Thado
MahaBandulaagaincrossedthesnow-cladmountainsandbeganapacifi-
cation campaign intended to consolidate Ava’s permanent hegemony
over the country. In 1823, with the back of Assamese resistance largely
broken, Thado Maha Bandula established his forward base at Rangpur
and extinguished the Ahom court. He then began his initial forays into
CacharandJaintia,andplannedtomarchonBhutan.6
Dominationofthisvastarea,nowsandwichedbetweenBritishBengal
andBurma,was tohave twoprofoundeffects.The first was theimport-
ationtotheCourtofAvaofmanyoftheoftenSanskrit-educatedelitesof
theseoccupiedstates,aprocesswhichwillbediscussedinchapter4.The
secondwastowhettheBurmeseappetiteforfurtherexpansion,intothe
6 Baruah,HistoryofAssam,pp.361–8.
Kingsanddistantwars 17
heartof India, a course of action which would lead directly to the First
Anglo-BurmeseWarin1824.
TheBritishandtheBurmese
The first two hundred years of Anglo-Burmese relations had revolved
aroundoccasionalattemptsbytheBritishEastIndiaCompanytoestab-
lishprofitabletradetieswiththeCourtofAva.Smallbranchofficeswere
set up at Syriam, Ava and Bhamo in the mid-seventeenth century but
thesehadsoonclosed,mainlyforlackofbusiness.Anotherattemptwas
madetoresumetraderelationsinthe1750sandafortifiedsettlementwas
establishedatNegraisalongthecoast.ButtheunwillingnessoftheBritish
tointerveneonthesideoftheBurmesehadarousedsuspicionsinAlaun-
gpaya’s court and he ordered the settlement destroyed in 1759. When
contactresumedalmostfortyyearslater,theBritishandBurmesehad,for
the first time, a common border, between Bengal and Arakan. As this
frontierexpandednorthwardsandwestwards,mutualmistrustandfears
oversecurityonbothsidesincreased.
Bytheturnofthecentury,Amarapurahadbecomedeeplyconcerned
with the growth of British power in India. Spies were sent to the Tipu
SultaninMysore,totheMarattas,toNepalandtotheimperialcourtin
DelhiaswellastoBritishBengal.InterestintheEastIndiaCompanyeven
ledBodawpayatoemployanEnglishman,orperhapsaEurasian,named
George,toteachEnglishtoseveralofhissons.7MuslimsandArmenians
at the court had warned Burmese officials of the coming British threat.
Oneintelligencereportannouncedthat‘onlytheEastIndiaCompanyflag
flies along the Coromandal coast’. Another compared the English to a
Banyantree,whichfirstleansonotherswhilegrowing,onlylaterto kill
themwhenstrong.8
ThemainpointoftensionbetweenCalcuttaandAmarapurawastobe
Arakan. The Burmese occupation of that country had been extremely
repressive,withconstantdemandsformenandmaterial.In1795alevyof
20,000mentohelpexpandMeiktilalake,southofAmarapura,setoffthe
7 ThanTun,ed.RoyalOrdersofBurma1598–1885,part9,Tokyo,1989(hereafterROB),
3March1810.
8 Tin(Pagan),MyanmaMinOkchokponSadan(DocumentsRelatingtothe
AdministrationoftheBurmeseKings)(hereafterMMOS),5vols.,Rangoon,1931–3,
vol.III,pp.70–1.
18 ThemakingofmodernBurma
first wave of refugees into British territory and the beginnings of an
Arakanese insurgency. In 1811, a new royal levy for 40,000 men sent
anotherhugeexodusofrefugeestowardsChittagong,addingimpetusto
the local guerilla resistance which soon defeated the Burmese garrison
and took Mrohaung. The guerilla leader Chin Byanhad offered to hold
Arakanas avassalofthe EastIndiaCompany,andthis increasedAma-
rapura’s suspicions of Calcutta’s motives, especially as his bases were
locatedwellwithinCompanyterritory.Britishtroopshadpreventedthe
Burmese from pursuing his men across the Naaf river boundary and
cross-borderrelationsquicklysoured.
Thesecondarenaofcontentionwasinthefarnorth,inManipurandin
theHimalayanstatesofAssam,JaintiaandCachar,whereAva’sforward
policywasmeetingwithgrowingBritishinfluenceandconcernsoverthe
securityofBengal.TheBurmeseoccupationofManipurhaddrivenlarge
numbersof refugeesinto Cacharand the raja of Cacharin 1823 invited
Avatohelprestoreorderinhiscountry.TheBurmeseoccupationofthe
Brahmaputravalleyanditsprobingmovesintotheadjacenthighgrounds
were clearly intended to place pressure on Bengal. The British, worried
aboutlosingthisbufferandwithexpansionistdesignsoftheirown,unilat-
erallydeclaredCacharandneighbouringJaintiaasprotectoratesandsent
aforcetohalttheBurmeseadvance.Clashessoondevelopedbetweenthe
twoarmiesinCacharandthis,coupledwithaworseningsituationalong
thedisputedArakanborder,ledFortWilliam,on5March1824,todeclare
warontheKingdomofAva.9
The First Anglo-BurmeseWar turnedout to be the longest and most
expensive in British Indian history. It lasted nearly two years, cost the
Britishexchequer5millionpounds,andledtothedeathsof15,000British
andIndiansoldiersaswellastensofthousandsofBurmese.Attheonset
of the war, the confident Burmese forces, under the command of their
well-triedgeneralandgovernorofAssam,ThadoMahaBandula,madea
spiritedattempttobreakthroughBritishlinesandmarchsimultaneously
onSyhletfromthenorthandChittagongfromthe east.Bandula,avery
tallmanwithaviolenttemper,hadlittletimeforprecedenceandprotocol
in a country obsessed with both. He was reported once to have de-
capitatedbyhisownhandoneofhisseniorofficialsforcounsellingretreat
9 GeorgeBruce,TheBurmaWars:1824–1880,London,1973,pp.1–127;HtinAung,
HistoryofBurma,pp.194–217;KBZ,vol.II,pp.369–425.